A great multitude of religious teachings would suggest that the cross is symbolic of Christ's sacrifice because we are sinners. They teach that Christ had to die because our horrible nature is completely incapable of ever getting it right. He had to die for us because we are hopeless failures, sinners saved by grace or undeserved favor. While this does have some truth, I would like to elaborate on the Father's heart. John 3:16 says, "God so LOVED the world that He GAVE His one and ONLY SON, that whoever should believe in Him would not perish, but have ETERNAL LIFE." I capitalized some of the words in that well known scripture to make a point. First of all, God loved.
1 Corinthians 13:7 tells us that love always protects, trusts, and hopes. If we plug that definition of love into John 3:16 we find that God so protected, trusted in, and hoped for the world that He gave. When someone gives a gift, they expect nothing in return. They do it out of generosity and love. God didn't give His Son so that we would give good works back. He gave so we could receive. He wanted us to receive eternal life. John 17:3 tells us that eternal life is that we would know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. "It's not about praying a prayer and going to heaven, otherwise you would have prayed a prayer and *POOF* you would have disappeared."(Todd White) Jesus came so that we may know the Father and have a relationship with Him, but God couldn't have a relationship with us while we were covered in sin. Jesus came to take away the sin of the world(John 1:29). He didn't come to mask it, or cover it up. He came to TAKE SIN AWAY! Once we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord we are saved.(Romans 10:9). Saved from what? A life of bondage and sin.
We are no longer sinners, but sons!
We have been restored to our original created value as co-heirs with Christ. The old has passed away, the new has come.(2 Corinthians 5:17) When something passes away we don't battle with it. The old man is dead! We are brand new creations, created in the image of God! God is without sin! Jesus came to demonstrate what it looks like to walk the earth without sin, so we would know what we are capable of with His Spirit. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.(Philippians 4:13) This includes righteous living! If it were not possible to live righteously (in right standing with God) then God the Father would not have sent His most prized possession, Jesus! In the western world we can completely understand the love of a child and how insanely sacrificial it is to give them up for others. In Israel, in bible times a man's success was based upon having a male heir. If a man had only one son, he would spend thirty years pouring everything he had into that son. At thirty years of age the son would inherit the father's kingdom in all of it's entirety. A son wasn't only his father's "pride and joy", but his most prized possession that would take over all his affairs. This was a very strong message to the Israelites, as it should be to us today! God the Father gave His heir to redeem the rest of His children. I'm sure everyone would agree that we are only willing to pay what we believe something is worth. If I were to offer my rusty 2000 Kia Sephia for $40,000 no one would buy it, because it's not worth that much. So why would heaven go bankrupt of it's most prized possession to redeem us, if we weren't worth it?! The truth is we are worth it!
The cross is a symbol of your amazing value!
It's also symbolic of our inheritance! Once we were redeemed we became co-heirs. This means that everything Jesus did while on the earth, (the sin-free life, the healings, the words of knowledge, the prophesies, the selfless love) we are capable of doing, and even greater.(John 14:12-14) By His Spirit we are restored to our original created purpose! It is not blasphemy! It's the Gospel!
Run with me church!
*purusamor.com*
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